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Amanda Bynes is mentally unfit to stand trial ... this according to her lawyer in her DUI case ... TMZ has learned.

Amanda was supposed to appear in court today for her DUI arrest in West Hollywood back in April, 2012. Amanda's lawyer, Rich Hutton, told the judge Amanda did not have the mental capacity to understand the nature of the legal proceedings.

The judge apparently had concern ... and transferred the matter to the mental health court. The judge in that court will conduct a hearing to determine Amanda's mental competency.

Meanwhile, Amanda is getting long-term treatment after being placed under a conservatorship.

Here's video ... of a noticeably unstable Amanda climbing into her Range Rover last year.

This, right here. 18-27 is pretty much the big emergent period for certain disorders. It's so awful that everyone's provoking her while she's experiencing this. I hope she is able to find what works for her, and on her own terms as much as possible.

Semi-OTI think this is a big part of the stigma around mental health/illness. People struggle to understand how someone they've known for however long could 'suddenly' be mentally ill, and either assume they've been hiding it, something triggered it, or they're making it up 'for attention' etc.

My boyfriend had to deal with a pretty low-key case (he caused damage to someone's car when he was having a manic episode--he was not driving and the damage wasn't really bad) and it took almost a year and a half to get resolved.